Draw Near: The Heart of Communion with God

By Scott Aniol

What comes into your mind when you hear the phrase "communion with God"? Sitting cross-legged, eyes closed, arms outstretched, humming? Losing yourself in emotional ecstasy? Being ushered into another dimension? Centering rituals? Emptying your mind and hearing audible voices from God?
Through a series of meditations on several biblical passages, Scott Aniol demonstrates that communion with God is not mystical or mysterious--rather, communion with God is rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ, clearly communicated throughout the Scriptures, and absolutely vital for a fruitful Christian life that brings God ultimate glory.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Release date: Mar 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9781725260450

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Draw Near

The Heart of Communion with God

Scott Aniol

Introduction

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Who could that be at the door? you think. I have so much to do—good things, necessary things. I’m too busy to answer.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

A voice. His voice.

What does he want, now? You shrink back further into the house, hoping he won’t know you’re home. This place is a mess, I can’t let him come in. You look around; your eyes linger on the locked door. I certainly can’t let him see in that room.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

How long has it been since he was here last? In my home? At my table? You can’t seem to remember. It’s been a long time.

My child, the voice says, firmly, but gently. Open the door. I want to come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.

You walk gingerly toward the door. Your genuine love for him compels you to do so, even though you’re ashamed.

You unlock the deadbolt and slide back the chain. You turn the handle and open the door, just a crack. He’s standing at your door, a look of love and compassion on his face where you expect to find disappointment and judgment.

It has been too long, my child. Let me come into your dining room. He has something in his hands.

Look, I’ve brought the supper.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,

I will come in to him and eat with him,

and he with me. (Rev

3:20

)

Communion with God.

What comes into your mind when you hear that phrase—communion with God? Sitting cross-legged, eyes closed, arms outstretched, humming? Losing yourself in emotional ecstasy? Being ushered into another dimension? Centering rituals? Emptying your mind and hearing audible voices from God?

Maybe you’ve been drawn to ideas like this, always disappointed when you genuinely pursue God, and none of this happens. Or maybe popular perceptions like this have given you a distaste for the very notion of pursuing communion with God. No, you insist, the Christian life consists simply in rational understanding of biblical theology and pursuit of holiness; any talk of communion with God is mystical new age gibberish.

Through a series of meditations on several biblical passages, I want to show you that communion with God is not mystical or mysterious—rather, communion with God is rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ, clearly communicated throughout the Scriptures, and absolutely vital for a fruitful Christian life that brings God ultimate glory.

There is perhaps a no more beautiful picture of the relationship that God desires to have with us as his children than how Christ expresses it in Revelation 3:20. The image of dining with another person around a table in their home, in the Ancient Near East, was about the best picture of intimate communion with someone you could use. You didn’t just invite anyone into your home. You didn’t just eat with anyone. You only invited to your dining table those with whom you had free and open fellowship.

This is what was pictured with the Table of Showbread in the tabernacle and temple in the Old Testament. That table symbolized communion with God in his presence. This is why at the end of all of the major corporate worship festivals in Israel, they had an extended time of feasting in God’s presence. This is why in Psalm 23, the fact that God prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies is so amazing and beautiful. It pictures the fact that he welcomes us into communion with him. This is also why the Pharisees were so upset when Jesus ate with publicans and sinners. They did not approve of Jesus so intimately communing with people so publicly scandalous. And one day, all of redemptive history will culminate in a great marriage banquet.

And yet, this leads to the question of why he’s out on the front porch in the first place. Why isn’t he already in your dining room eating with you?

Draw Near

The Heart of Communion with God

Copyright ©

2020

Scott Aniol. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers,

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Wipf & Stock

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paperback isbn: 978-1-7252-6044-3

hardcover isbn: 978-1-7252-6043-6

ebook isbn: 978-1-7252-6045-0

Manufactured in the U.S.A.

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Table of Contents

Title Page

Introduction

Chapter 1: The Call to Communion with God

Chapter 2: The Basis for Communion with God

Chapter 3: The Means to Communion with God

Chapter 4: The Heart of Communion with God

Chapter 5: The Strengthening of Communion with God

Chapter 6: The Fruit of Communion with God

Chapter 7: The Threat to Communion with God

Chapter 8: The Recovery of Communion with God

1

The Call to Communion with God

The man was a scoundrel, certainly not worthy of the invitation he had just received. He had stolen before—he had even stolen from the king’s treasury. And now he was eyeing the fat purse on the richly-dressed nobleman headed his way on the main road, when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

Oh no, he though. Caught at last.

Sir, a voice behind him said. He turned around.

Sir, the king is giving a wedding feast for his son. This was clearly one of the king’s servants. He continued, He has prepared the dinner, his oxen and fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready.

And what would someone like me have to do with that?

The king would like you to come, the servant said. Come to the wedding feast.

And those servants went out into the roads

and gathered all whom they found,

both bad and good.

So the wedding hall was filled with guests. (Matt

22:10

)

Let Us Draw Near

Imagine—the sovereign, holy, all-powerful Ruler of the universe invites lowly, finite, severely flawed creatures into his presence.

This is exactly what he calls us to do. The end of Hebrews 10 contains such an invitation:

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (Heb

10

:

19

–

22

)

Let us draw near.

This idea of drawing near is an important focus of the book of Hebrews, evident by its presence in the three major climaxes of the book. Here in chapter 10:22 we find the second of these climaxes. The first is found in 4:16, which says, Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. And the final climax of the book is 12:22, which says, But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and that phrase you have come is a translation of the same Greek term translated draw near in Hebrews 10:22.

Not only does this concept of drawing near appear in the book’s main literary climaxes, but it also appears in several other places in the book as well. Hebrews 7:25, 10:1, and 11:6 all focus our attention on the call to draw near to God, the basis for drawing near, and the means for drawing near. The concept of drawing near is critical in this book.

So what is the importance of this command? What does drawing near mean?

This idea of coming or drawing near is a translation of a term that means more than just a casual coming toward something. Rather, it specifically refers to approaching God, and we can see this by how it is used in